Missing snowmobiler in Laurel Mountain area found alive

Family says Bruce Maust recovering at Somerset Hospital

A man who state police said went missing after he left home Sunday on a snowmobile has been found alive.

Bruce Maust's family told WTAE's Marcie Cipriani that the 50-year-old man was taken to Somerset Hospital, where he was recovering on Wednesday afternoon.

"We were just getting ready to plan our search area and we got a phone call from state police, saying they found the sled. Then, 10 minutes later, we got the call they found Bruce," said his brother, Mike Maust.

The call came from a state trooper who has known Bruce Maust for 15 years and had been searching for him, both on-and off-duty, when he spotted him.

"When we got that call today, we just wanted to fall to the ground," said Mike Maust.

Bruce Maust was on a farm and had crashed on a frozen pond and was sitting in the woods, according to family members.

"The pond had cattails coming up through. He assumed it was a field of grass and the snowmobile just went in the pond," said Mike Maust.

State police had been looking for Bruce Maust in the Laurel Mountain area, west of Jennerstown. During the search, they were asking the public for help because they said he suffers from Pick’s disease, a rare illness that causes dementia.

Bruce Maust is thankful to the hundreds of people who helped bring him home to his family.